Fabinho has admitted that Liverpool already "have a lot of confidence" in midfield prodigy Stefan Bajcetic after the talented teenager notched his first senior goal in the Reds' 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
Bajcetic, who was making just his seventh senior appearance, caught the eye after being introduced at Villa Park and even managed to open his account for Jurgen Klopp's side with a cool finish in the final minutes of the match.
The 18-year-old only arrived on Merseyside back in November 2021 but has made a big impression since joining from Celta Vigo. And Fabinho revealed that the youngster has already earned the trust of his Reds' teammates.
"He's a really good player, [he] has a lot of personality. We have a lot of confidence in him," Fabinho told Amazon Prime after the match.
"I think I can talk a little bit about Stefan, he's been training with us since the beginning of the season. He's someone who always puts in the hard work in training and when he gets the opportunity to play he tries his best.
"He's someone who really listens when we speak to them, or Pep and Vito [Matos] who are always with the young players. It was [a] really nice, really calm [finish], when it came to him I thought 'shoot, shoot' but he took it round the goalkeeper and scored."
Since joining the Reds from his boyhood club just over 12 months ago, Bajcetic, who holds dual nationality and is already at the centre of an international tug-of-war between Serbia and Spain, has made significant strides in recent weeks.
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Bajcetic joined some of Klopp's senior stars on a training camp in Dubai during the World Cup break before featuring against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup last week. Full-back Andy Robertson is adamant that Bajcetic's recent experiences have helped accelerate the young midfielder's progression.
"Stefan has been brilliant since he's come in," Robertson told LFC TV. "Dubai was big for him, trying to take a wee bit more on. We had a lot of young players there and he's been in and around it more, he’s young but he had some responsibilities.
"He's quickly grown up, quickly learning. A couple of things we had to speak to him about, timekeeping isn't his best thing but he's adapting to it.
"On the pitch, he's a fantastic player. He's got a huge future ahead of him, lots of potential. He was unbelievable [at Villa], when he came on he broke up the play and that’s probably what he’s known for, not quite his goalscoring! But it was a massive goal for us, so [I'm] happy for him."
